The present disclosure relates to file sharing and, more particularly, to a system and method for sharing files via an Internet file system.
Various file sharing protocols have been proposed. One such proposal includes the Common Internet File System (CIFS). The CIFS is intended to provide an open cross-platform mechanism for client systems to request file services from server systems over a network. Further, the CIFS is based on the standard Server Message Block protocol widely in use by personal computers and workstations running a variety of operating systems.
Another protocol is the Secure Shell (SSH) which is program to log into another computer over a network, to execute commands in a remote machine, and to move files from one machine to another
Use of the Internet and the World Wide Web has been characterized by read-only access. Existing protocols such as FTP are good solutions for two-way file transfers. However, new read/write interfaces will become increasingly necessary as the Internet becomes more interactive and collaborative. Adoption of a common file sharing protocol for the Internet having modern semantics such as shared files, byte-range locking, coherent caching, change notification, and replicated storage, would provide important benefits to the Internet community.
Conventional file sharing services have been implemented that address some of the issues described above. In such conventional services, an Internet or Web based file server is available for Internet users to store, share, manage and publish files from their Web browser and access them from their or any other Web browser. As such, users can stay connected to their information from anywhere in the world. User files are securely stored on a network and may be shared with any colleague of the users choosing. Most file sharing services support all file types and require no additional software on the desktop making the services an extension of the desktop and a fast and easy way to share and distribute files and content on the Web.
A limitation of the conventional file sharing services is that copying files to and from an Internet file system is difficult and cumbersome. For example, most file upload systems require a special interface that users must become accustomed to, whether that interface is browser based or a special client application. A Web-based Distributed Authoring and Versioning (WebDAV) set of extensions to the Hyper Text Transfer Protocol (HTTP), however, allows users to collaboratively edit and manage files on remote web servers. Since DAV works over HTTP, all the benefits of HTTP are realized that FTP cannot provide. Such benefits include: strong authentication, encryption, proxy support, and caching. Although it is true that SSH does provide some of this functionality, the HTTP infrastructure is much more widely deployed than SSH. Further, SSH does not have the wide complement of tools, development libraries, and applications that HTTP does.
The protocols which use the services mentioned above typically use databases to store information about users and the rights of those users to certain files in a system. As such, anytime a user attempts to access a particular file, a database check will be made to determine if the user has rights to that file. Constantly using a database to allow file sharing between users can become a cumbersome exercise.
Therefore, what is needed, is an application that makes an Internet file system behave in a similar manner as a local or network file system and that administers rights for files in the file system. Also, a directory is used for user account information. Also, communities of users may be configured to allow the users to easily share folders and files containing information of common interests.